A Helpful Change
by Chrisie Morgan
Summary: When someone unexpected shows up in the life of Neal Caffrey, his life will change, but perhaps it will be for the better, it won't be easy to adjust, but with the help from Peter, Elizabeth, Sarah, and even Mozzie; he will make it work.
1. Chapter 1 r

**Hey! I don't know where this story came from, I guess it just kinda came to me, I know that I haven't updated my other story in a while but it is in the works, I have writers block and the only way that I can get over that is to write something else, so here is my something else!**

**Hahaha, I hope that you like it! Please review! **

"Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. We have a new case today, it is about this priceless painting that was stolen from a classy, uptown penthouse belonging to Richard Lowe, he inherited a lot of money and is into investing." Peter Burke opened as he handed out files to his team, which included Neal Caffrey (Peter's CI).

"What painting was stolen?" Neal asked.

"Don't know, all Lowe said was that it went missing and he isn't sure how. He has top of the line security and everyone as to go through a metal detector to get in and to get out. Supposedly, nothing can get past the security that he has" Peter explained.

"But something did." Neal stated.

"Correct. Now we have to go figure out who, and how." Peter stated, "Neal, you and I are going to Lowe's to see what we can find. And the rest of you are going to do what you can from here, I want back rounds for all members of security, got it?" Peter asked.

His team nodded before getting up and going to their desks to start their work, while Neal walked over to Peter; "So what do you plan to do while we are at Lowe's?" he asked.

"Well, I hope to get some answers." Peter said with a sigh as he walked out of the conference room and into his office to get his stuff.

When they arrived at the penthouse and went through security they headed up to the elevator to go to Lowe's office. While they were in the elevator, Peter and Neal didn't even notice there was someone else in the elevator with them, until she spoke up.

"Neal Caffrey, wow." She said.

Peter and Neal turned around only to see a teenaged girl leaning up against the wall of the elevator staring at them.

"Who are you?" Neal asked in bewilderment.

"Excellent question. Lets say that it is Liza for now." She said in a laid back manner, then standing up straight, "Nice to meet you. And you must be Peter Burke." Liza observed, sticking her hand out to the both of them.

"How do you know our names?" Peter asked in the same manner that Neal asked his question, bewilderment.

"Anyone that reads the papers and pays attention to the world would know who you two are." She replied simply, "So may I ask why you two are here?"

"We are investigating a stolen painting. And you?" Peter answered.

"What painting?" Liza asked, ignoring Peter's question.

"I don't know what painting," Peter answered, "We are here to get details."

"Oh, I wonder if I happen to know where the painting is, I saw one the other day when I was looking for an ear ring that I dropped." She told them, never loosing the composure that she had, "I thought that it looked a little out of place, but I didn't really question it cause it's not my place. Would you like me to show you?" she asked.

Liza reminded Peter of someone he knew, but he couldn't put a finger on whom it was, but he knew it was someone, "Yes, if you could, that would be great." Peter answered suspiciously as the elevator doors opened to the floor that they needed.

"Oh, cool. We are even on the right floor," Liza said as she exited the elevator and walked down the hall, she turned around and gave the men a confident smile, "How convenient?"

Peter and Neal just exchanged looks of confusion before following this "Liza" girl.

As they walked down the hall, they saw that Liza was looking at each door, as if trying to remember. Then she stopped, "I do believe it is in here." She said, and opened the door, and sure enough, there it was.

"Wow," Neal said, picking up the painting, "I am pretty sure this is it. Wow! This is a master piece!" Neal marveled, while examining the piece.

"Well let's go see for sure if this is what we are looking for." Peter said to Neal, he then turned to Liza and asked; "Would you please show us the way to Mr. Lowe's office?"

"Yeah, sure." Liza shrugged, " Follow me." she finished with another one of her confident smiles.

They walked down the hallway, past the elevator and then made a right before she said; "Here we are!" and opened the door. Richard Lowe was inside acing back and forth, but he stopped when he heard the door open, when he turned and saw to strange men with Liza, he lost it!

"Really?" He yelled at Liza, "I cancel the meeting because I don't want to support you and you go and get your lawyers on me? That's real mature, Liza, real mature!"

"Well, come to find out, I don't need you money, yesterday after the meeting I got a call and someone has already signed me, so ya see, you are just making a spectacle of yourself here." Liza replied, completely cool, never loosing her temper or raising her voice, "This is Agent Burke and Neal Caffrey from the FBI, they have some news about your painting, but judging by your reaction to them, I guess you don't want to here it."

"Wait! You are from the FBI?" Richard asked Peter and Neal.

"Yes, we are." Peter answered, "And we have found your painting."

"Really? That's great!" Richard replied, just noticing that Neal was holding it at his side, "I guess that means you know who took it to, don't you?" he asked eagerly.

"Actually, it doesn't appear t have been stolen." Peter answered, "It was found in a closet down the hall from here. Did you even search the building after it had disappeared?"

"Well . . . um . . . I don't think that ended up getting done, now that you mention it." Richard explained.

"Well you should have." Peter told him.

"But how would it get there in the first place?" Richard asked, "I bet you did it!" he said, turning his attention back to Liza, "You stole my painting when I left you alone to go take that phone call that I had, didn't you? Didn't you?" He yelled at her, and got in her face.

Liza seemed confused that, but she very calmly replied; "I don't know what you are talking about sir, but i would like to take this chance to leave before you make things get out of hand, good day to you sir." she said calmly and with a smile that Peter could have sworn he had seen somewhere before, but could not really place it.

"Wait!" Peter called after her before she left, "Could you wait out in the hall for us please? Thanks." Liza nodded and stepped out of the room.

As soon as the door shut, Peter turned to Richard, "Thank you for your time, sir. I am glad that your painting was able to be recovered. We will do our best to find out who did this." Peter said briskly, "We will be in touch." he finished before exiting the room with Neal following closely behind him.

Peter had to find out who this Liza girl was, and how she knew so much about him and his consultant.

**So, what do you think? Please review, and to all the people that want an update from The Person That Changed it All, I will do the best I can with what I have, but we are expecting hurricane-like winds in about 2 hours. So I will be without power and internet for a while, but as long as my laptop has a charge, I should be able to type it up, just not get it to you right away, but I promise that I will either type a chapter for this story or for the other one, or maybe even both tomorrow and put it up for you as soon as possible.**

**Thanks for letting me ramble on there for a minute, have a good night or day, whatever you are at right now, and I will type you all again! Please review! :)**


	2. Chapter 2

**And as promised, I have started a new chapter, but it is not likely that I will get it out any time soon, the weather outside is crazy! Never have I seen such wildness! hahaha, ok, enough of that.**

**I looked back on the first chapter and I realized that my proofreading didn't save as well as the last 2 or so pages of my chapter, so I fixed that and it should be all set. I am SO sorry about that, and I want to thank Duffy1 for bringing that to my attention. I switched computers and on my new one, it only has pages and not Microsoft word, which is what I was using before, so I am working on getting used to that and I was mid-chapter when I switched, which is what you saw if you read it before I could fix it. I will be more careful about that with this chapter. So I guess I should get started, hum?**

As Peter exited the room, he saw that Liza had not waited for him, she was no where in sight!

"I can't believe she left!" Peter said angrily.

"Maybe she did do it and didn't want to be brought in for questioning." Neal suggested.

"Well, she has got to be on the security cameras, so we'll find her." Peter replied, punching the elevator button to go down so that they could get their car.

When they got down to the main entrance, they noticed that Liza was standing just outside the door looking around, Peter rushed over to her and grabbed her by the arm and said; "You didn't wait for us."

"I did wait, just not where you wanted me to." she replied, "I knew that you were going to want to talk to me and I didn't see the need for Mr. Lowe to over hear our conversation. He was pretty mad, wasn't he?" she asked, looking at Neal.

So he replied, "Yeah, he was pretty miffed at you." which earned him a glare from Peter.

"You are coming to my office for questioning." Peter told Liza, "Where are your parents?"

"Do they need to come?" Liza asked Peter.

"Yes, they should know where you are at least." Peter answered her as he dragged her to the car.

"My dad doesn't even know I exist." Liza said.

"And what about your mom?" Neal enquired.

"Would you like me to call her? She won't answer, but I can leave a message." Liza suggested.

"And why would she not answer?" Peter asked as he opened the car door for her to get in.

"She is, uh . . . a little tied up at the moment." Liza answered looking at Peter before she got in the car and sat down on the seat.

"She is to tied up to answer her own daughter's phone call?" Peter asked in disbelief after he walked around and sat down in the drivers seat.

"Hey, if what you are implying is that my mom isn't a awesome mom, you better be careful!" Liza said, and for the first time, raising her voice and getting defensive about something, "Things are complicated and you have no right to go around and throw accusations out there without knowing all the facts!" Liza told him harshly.

Peter and Neal exchanged glances before Peter started the car and pulled into traffic. The rest of the car ride was silent.

When they arrived at the office, Peter opened the door for Liza and when she got out, he put hand cuffs on her. "You afraid I am going to run way on ya?" she asked with a grin.

Peter ignored her question and took her to the elevator that would take them up to the White Collar Division of the F.B.I.

The elevator doors opened and Peter took Liza but the arm and dragged her to the stairs that would lead them to the conference room.

The fact that Peter was dragging a teen age girl through the room in handcuffs caused a lot of people to stop their work and stare at the agent, but only Diana had the guts to get up and say something.

As she walked over to Peter, he turned to Neal and said; "Take this one upstairs and make sure that she doesn't touch anything, I will be up in a minute."

Neal nodded and lead her upstairs. Liza turned to him and said; "You know that I can walk myself? I don't need a leash to guide me. I am not a criminal, or a dog for that matter."

Neal stopped and took his hand off her in a dramatic way and replied; "Fine, have it your way, stay right behind me please." And he lead the way.

Meanwhile, Diana and Peter were talking. "So Boss, why did you bring that girl in handcuffs? Don't you think that was a little harsh?" Diana asked.

"Well, I thought that handcuffs were what she needed to knock her in her place, but not even that worked." Peter answered.

"What do you mean?" Diana asked.

Peter looked up at Neal and Liza sitting in the conference room then he looked at Diana again and told her that she would fill her in on all of the details later, then he walked up the stairs to talk to Liza and see what she had to say to him.

"So," Peter started, "You still need to call your mom." he told her and pushed the land line phone out in the middle of the table.

"How am I supposed to dial and hold the phone with these handcuffs on me?" she asked the two men.

"Well, the conversation will be on speaker, and you will tell me the number so that I can dial it, but I guess you're right, I don't think that the handcuffs are needed anymore. Neal, would you please un cuff her?" he asked as he slide the keys over to him, since he was closer to her than he was.

He undid the handcuffs and handed them to Peter with the keys, then sat back down.

Peter nodded then looked back at Liza and waited for her to tell him the number so that he could dial it.

She told him the number and looked down at the table, knowing that her gig was up.

They all went silence, the only noise was the ringing that the phone made before the automated voice came on, and what it said surprised Neal and Peter. It said; "I'm sorry. The phone that you are trying to reach is no longer in service due to death. There is one other person on this contract, but wishes to remain anonymous. Have a nice day." Then the call disconnected.

Everyone sat there in silence for a few minutes then finally Neal spoke; "Why would they say that the phone isn't in service because the person died? That just seems wrong." But that only earned him yet another glare from Peter.

"Is that really you're mom's number?" Peter asked Liza.

She nodded, "Yes, it is. Maybe now would be a good time to explain why I'm here." she started.

Peter nodded; "Yes, now would be an excellent time for you to start."

Liza took a deep breath, then she told her story; "My full name is Elizabeth Geller, but people call me Liza, and I am 14 years old. My mom and I used to live in a small town in Connecticut, but it's really dangerous there. There are so many gangs that you can't even walk the streets by yourself without being pushed around by one of them.

"We were the wealthiest people in the neighborhood and that caused a lot of attention from the gangs, and one night, one of the worst gangs broke into our house, so my mom grabbed me and we went into her bed room to hide, she told me to get into the huge laundry basket that she had, and stay there, no matter what happened, I was to stay there and not make any noises. I promised her, then she went off to hide herself, but she wasn't quick enough, they found her and they pushed her around and they beat on her and cut her arms and legs with knifes, I could see everything and wanted so bad to tell them to stop, but I couldn't make myself do it." Liza explained, doing her best not to show too much emotion, this is not how she wanted to tell her story, as painful as it was for her, she could not make let herself cry.

"Finally, they had had enough with her and they finished her off by taking out a gun and shooting her twice in the chest.

"It really beat me up at first, I called the police and they took her body away in a black body bag. That was 3 weeks ago, and they still can't find who did it. Many expensive things were taken from my house that night, so the police think that they took the things, sold them, then split town." Liza told the two men, who sat there silently in shock the whole time.

"So . . . they still haven't found who did that?" Neal asked her almost in a whisper.

"No, they . . . uh . . . they say that they are still trying to find the gang who did this, but I personally think that they are lying to me." Liza told them.

"So what was your mother's name?" Peter asked the girl.

"Emily Geller." she replied promptly.

"Hum. That name sounds familiar . . ." Neal said, thinking back to how he might have known the name.

"Yes, and that leads me to why I am here in New York. I have never actually met my dad before now, but he has been a huge part of my life, my mom would always smile and tell me stories of when they were together.

"When my mom found out she was pregnant, she kept waiting for the right time to tell him, but she couldn't find it until one night after a date that they had been on, but before she could tell him, he broke up with her and left town later that week. She was never able to tell him, then she had me and always told me that when I was 16, we would go find him together." She said with a smile as she remembered her mother, but it faded; "Guessed that wasn't going to happen, so I found him myself."

"Who is your father?" Peter asked.

Liza took a deep breath then looked straight at Neal; "His name is Neal Caffrey."

**So, what do you think? Please review! :)**


	3. Chapter 3

**So sorry that I haven't updated in a while, but with soccer and school, it's just a lot of work to do everything and keep up with my writing, but I am hoping to get this done but the end of the period, since I am in a study hall, and it might get cut a little short because I only have 45 mins or so and it takes a little long than that to write everything and proof read, so lets just hope that I can type fast today, hahaha, so lets us get started with the chapter!**

_"Yes, and that leads me to why I am here in New York. I have never actually met my dad before now, but he has been a huge part of my life, my mom would always smile and tell me stories of when they were together._

_"When my mom found out she was pregnant, she kept waiting for the right time to tell him, but she couldn't find it until one night after a date that they had been on, but before she could tell him, he broke up with her and left town later that week. She was never able to tell him, then she had me and always told me that when I was 16, we would go find him together." She said with a smile as she remembered her mother, but it faded; "Guessed that wasn't going to happen, so I found him myself."_

_"Who is your father?" Peter asked._

_Liza took a deep breath then looked straight at Neal; "His name is Neal Caffrey."_

Neal and Peter just stared at her in shock, then Neal was able to muster out a sentence; "What do you mean? Me? No, no. Not possible!"

"I had a feeling that you would say that, but I am positive that it is you, your name is Neal Caffrey, right?" Neal just nodded, "Well then, you are indeed my father. My mom," she started while she started to dig through her backpack that she had bee wearing, "she kept a few pictures of Neal so that I would know what you look like, just for comfort or something, but they were from about 15 years ago, so I didn't think that they would be of any good, but apparently, they were, you haven't changed much, Neal." She said, sliding some of the pictures that she had over to Neal and Peter.

Neal and Peter started looking at the pictures, and sure enough, that was Neal in the pictures. "Who is the woman in the pictures with Neal?" Peter asked.

"That's my mom." Liza answered.

"Oh, she is really pretty." Peter told her.

Liza smiled; "Thanks. Um, I also have my birth certificate." She slid that over to the men.

Neal grabbed the piece of paper and looked at it, sure enough, him and Emily, "Your Emily's daughter?" Liza nodded, "And I am the father?" Liza nodded again. Neal was having a hard time wrapping his head around this, he was a father? How could this happen? He was so careful, and why didn't Emily tell him anyways? Even if they had broken up, he still would have liked to know that he was a father. But then he remembered what he had told her that night, now he understood why she wouldn't tell him. Suddenly he felt guilty, and that never happened to him, never! "Um, so . . . why are you here? What did you hope that you would accomplish by coming here and telling me that I broke your mothers' heart and that I was a terrible person to her and that I dumped her rudely while she was pregnant with my kid? Just to make me feel bad? Is that it? Is that what you wanted?" he yelled at her, getting really defensive all of a sudden.

"What are you talking about? I never said any of those things!" Liza said, standing up and getting her things together, "Believe it or not, my mother never said a single bad thing about you, never was she negative when we were talking about you, I know that you weren't very kind when you left my mother, but that's only because she was a terrible liar. She told me time and time again that she understood why you left, that she wouldn't have made you stay, even if she had told you, you had a future and she didn't want to hold you back just because a mistake was made." Liza told him sternly.

"Really? She never said anything bad about me?" Neal asked in disbelief, this was all too much for one day, for one week even.

"Really." Liza told Neal with hurt and sadness in her eyes, "I came here to find you because I lost my entire family a month ago, and you are the only one that I have left still related to me, I wanted to know you, I wanted you to know that I even existed. Silly me for thinking that you would take well to this, I thought that maybe, something would just change and you would possibly want to know who I am and maybe get to know me, but I can see that I was daydreaming and that I made a mistake in coming. I'm sorry, you don't have to worry about me anymore, I won't get in your way." She said, walking out the door.

"Liza!" Peter yelled after her, she turned around and looked at him, "Do you have somewhere to stay tonight?" he asked her.

"No, but I will find a hotel or something to stay in, its okay, really. I will be fine, I have been on my own for a month, I am pretty sure by now I can take acre of myself." She said giving him a confidant smile and walking towards the door once more, she stopped briefly and turned to Neal who was pacing in the corner; "Neal, you should know that she never once blamed you for what she did, even after she saw what you had done in the paper, she never once tried to spoil the picture that I had of you. She never once stopped loving you." And with that, she turned away and swiftly walked down the stairs.

The agents at their desks, working noticed that she had tears swiftly falling to her cheeks and rolling down them to where they fell to the ground, how silly she was to think that maybe she would have a "happily ever after".

She walked to the elevator and when the doors she stepped in, leaving Neal and Peter in the dust of her tracks as she left the FBI building.

**So what did you think of that chapter? Please let me know, good or bad, feel free to let me know, hahaha. We just went over descriptive words in English, so that's where that came from, please review and I hope you enjoyed. I will try and update soon.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey, hey! Thank you to all the people that read the last chapter, I don't have anything to say other than reviews will make me want to update quicker, you so you know. Hope you enjoy the chapter.**

Liza got out of the building and started walking down the street, she hoped that that would have gone better**, **but she guess that she would be seeing him again, even if it was just for a little while, she would see him at least one more time before she left New York, she told herself that over and over again.

"How did I not know?" Neal said, pacing back and forth, running his hands through his hair, over and over again, "Why did Emily not tell me?" he asked out loud.

"I think that she didn't tell you because she wanted to protect Liza." Peter answered Neal.

"From what?" Neal cried.

"Neal, you are a felon, she might not have wanted Liza to know who you really were. You heard what Liza said, she told us that her mother never once said a negative thing about you, so that means that Emily just wanted to preserve the picture that she had made in Liza's eyes about you so that she every time she thought of you, she would think that you were some great mystery of the past that she can just dream of, not some prisoner who was chased after by the F.B.I." Peter explained.

Neal gave Peter a funny look; "Now how did you come up with an explanation like that?" Neal asked in awe

"Elizabeth has been reading this book, and uh . . ." Peter tried to explain.

Luckily, Neal cut him off; "Whatever, I have to find her." Neal said, running out the door to go and search for Liza.

"Neal!" Peter called after him, Neal stopped and turned around to look at him; "Neal, you need to stop and really think about about what you are doing and who this is going to effect. Is this really what you want, if you let her walk away, you can leave this behind you, but if you go after her, then you have committed to something." Peter warned.

"Yeah, but we can't leave her out on the street, especially in New York!" Neal said, running off to the elevator, Peter sighed and quickly got his keys from his office and followed Neal to the elevator.

As they were driving around, searching for Liza, Peter tried to talk to Neal one more time about what he was doing; "Neal, what are you going to do when you find her?"

"I . . . uh, what do you mean?" he asked.

"I mean, what are you going to do, are you going to get her a hotel room, are you going to bring her to the airport so that she can go back home, what?"

"Well, I would really like to take a blood test, just to make sure that she really is mine, and if she is, I think that I am going to have her live with me." Neal answered.

"Neal, it's not your house, you can't just have people move in with you." Peter told him.

"June has a spare bed room, the only reason that there is no one in it is because it is just a bed room, nothing else. She has offered it to Mozzie, but he said something about him having a room somewhere would only hold him down, and that sleeping on my couch was much more fun." Neal explained, the last part made Peter chuckle slightly, "So I will see if June is alright with having her sleep in that room, but everything she will do everything else in my room." finished Neal.

"Okay." Peter said, taking a deep breath, "When we find her, why don't I have her stay in my guest room for tonight until we get everything sorted out, and a blood test. I will have the lab look for her doctor back home and have them send us the blood sample for analysis, I think that it would be best if she didn't know about the blood test, it might upset her." said Peter.

"Really? You would let her stay at your house for a little bit?" Neal asked.

"Yeah, that way she doesn't think anything or that you are committing to anything, and it will give you time to ask June if it would be alright if she slept in the extra room." Peter told Neal.

"Okay, thanks Peter." Neal said honestly, "Now what- wait! Peter! There she is!" Neal said, pointing out the window to a girl walking on the sidewalk.

Peter pulled over and Neal got out and ran up to Liza who turned and looked up at Neal, "Why did you come after me?" She asked him.

"I over reacted, I am sorry. I was just shocked and I didn't know what to think, and . . ." Neal started.

"Thats okay, I understand." Liza assured him.

Peter walked over to Liza and said; "I would like you to come and stay with me, just until we figure everything out, okay?" Peter told her.

Liza nodded; "Yes, that's fine." she said, "Thank you very much." she said with a smile.

"Your welcome. Now do you have any other bag other than that your backpack?" He asked her.

"Yes, but it was lost on my flight, so I had to wait. They just called me and said that they had it and they want me to go and pick it up, that's where I am heading." she told them.

"Okay," Peter replied, "Why don't you call them back and tell them that they can drop it off to my house?" Peter told her.

So she called the airport back and gave them Peter's address so that they could bring the bag to his house, "All set." Liza told them after she hung up the phone with them, "So now what?" she asked them.

"Well, even if you are Neal's daughter, I still have to look into the painting, and how it got there." Peter told her.

Then Neal spoke up; "Aw, come on Peter," he started smoothly, "Can't we just let this one go? I mean there is no damage to the painting and it is back in it's rightful place, can't we just say that it was a mistake and that maybe he should fire his cleaning lady or something." Neal suggested.

"Yeah, and there is no actual proof that I did anything." Liza spoke up, "In fact, I was the one who found the painting, so you should be thanking me, not leading me away in cuffs." she pointed out.

"Yeah," Neal agreed, "She does have a point."

Peter signed deeply and looked at the two standing before him; they both had matching charming smiles and they were both standing with their hands in their pockets, they were both standing with an air of confidence and mock innocence, "You know that it's scary how similar teh two of you look right now." he told them.

They both looked at one another and shrugged; "So does that mean that you will drop the case?" Neal asked.

Peter deep sighed again; "Why not?" he told them and both of their smiles got a tiny bit bigger, "But you," he said pointing to Liza, "Don't you dare do anything even close to illegal again. Got it?"

Liza nodded. Peter was satisfied and so he walked over to the car and the other two followed behind him and got in.

"This is going to be interesting." Peter thought to himself.

**So what do you think? Does anyone have any ideas on filler chapters or little things that could happen? And just one more thing, does anyone have any idea on any cases they could do throughout the story? If anyone does give me any ideas, I would be more than happy to give you credit for them in the beginning or end of the chapter if you want me to. Thanks so much and I hope that you enjoyed the chapter! Please review! :)**

**~C. M.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey, sorry this is taking longer than I thought that it would, but** **I have already written it twice, once in my notebook for Physics and the other time on the computer where it didn't save, so let me try this again, hope you enjoy!**

Peter drove Liza to his house, where he let her in and lead her to the living room. "I need to stay here while I go back to the office for a little while." He told her, "You can stay in here and you can go into the kitchen, the bathroom is up the stairs and to your right. Please stay in those areas." He asked her, "My wife, Elizabeth, is shouldn't be home until after I get back, so you don't need to worry about that." He said as he walked back out the door, he then turned quickly back around; "And the dog's name is Satchamoe." He said, and then he closed the door and locked it behind him.

Peter jogged down the stairs and got back in the car and drove away. Neal turned to him; "Why are you leaving her at your house? Are you really sure that you want to do that?" Neal asked.

"Well," replied Peter, "I am not entirely positive at the moment if I really feel comfortable with leaving her alone at my house, but at this point, I don't think that bringing her back to the office, we need to do some research on her, and it would be best if she wasn't there." Peter told him.

"Okay, whatever you say." Neal replied, taking a deep breath and letting it out, _this is going to be interesting._ He thought to himself.

Liza took a deep breath and let it out, she walked over to the couch and sat down. She took out her backpack and took her laptop out and opened it, she searched for wii-fi that she could connect to, but the only one that was around was the Burke's, and it needed a password, so she shut the lid to her computer and she just sighed, what was she going to do now?

She leaned back against the back of the couch and though about it, she could write that paper that she needed for her online English class that was due in a few days, or she could read the book that she had brought on the plane with her . . . she thought that reading sounded like a lot more fun than doing homework, so that's what she choose to do.

She was sitting on the couch reading for a little while when she heard someone outside the door, she figured that she had only been there for 20 minutes or so, so she thought that it was a little odd that someone would be outside.

She drew a quick breath in when she saw the door open, _that is not Peter, _she thought to herself.

Peter and Neal walked into the office again. Neal took a seat at his desk and started to look into Liza from his end.

As Peter was walking up the stairs, Diana quickly bounded up after his; "Boss," she started right as Peter reached the top of the stairs, she walked the rest of the stair case before she ask; "What is going on?"

Peter motioned for Diana to follow him into his office. When they got there, Diana closed the door behind herself. She turned to Peter and tried again; "So what the hell is going on? What's wrong with Neal? Who was that girl?"

"Well, that girl's name is Elizabeth Geller and she staged a crime scene so that she could see Neal." He told Diana.

"Why did she want to see Neal?" she inquired.

"Well, he is her father apparently." He told her.

Diana was shocked. There was no way that Neal had a kid, "Did he know that she was even . . . alive?" Diana asked.

"No, she had no idea. He had a girlfriend in high school and he broke it off right after he went started in his crimes, right before his girlfriend could tell him that she was pregnant." Peter explained.

"Wow!" Diana said with her signature smirk/smile, "So what does she want with Neal so late in her life?"

"A family. He is now the only family member that she has left from what I can gather." Peter replied, "Her mother was killed right in front of her a little while ago, no more family." Peter told her.

"Wow, so she watched her mother die? How did she die?" Diana asked.

"From what I can gather so far, I think that she was tortured, but I am not sure, I need you to look up the case report please. Her mother's name was Emily Geller and they lived in a poor town in Connecticut, but they had money, I think that's why the gang broke into their house, but I am not entirely sure." Peter told Diana.

"Gangs? Wow, this is going to be fun." Diana said, the smirk still on her face as she walked out of his office and down to her own desk.

Elizabeth was so excited because she got to go home early, she decided that she would make a nice dinner for her and Peter with all the extra time that she had. When she walked into the house, she was surprised to see a teenaged girl sitting on her couch with a book in her hand looking up at her, "Um, hello. Who are you?" Elizabeth asked her.

Liza was surprised to see Elizabeth walk in, she wasn't sure who this woman was until she remember; "Oh! You must be Mrs. Burke." Liza said, standing up and walking over to Elizabeth sticking her hand out to her; "Hello, my name is Liza Geller. Peter dropped me off here and told me to stay in the living room until he and Neal got back from the office in a couple of hours." Liza told her.

Elizabeth nodded, she was a little upset that her husband didn't tell her that they were having company . . . she didn't even know how Peter knew this Liza girl, "Um, if you don't mind me asking, how do you know my husband?"

"Oh," Liza started, "It is kinda a long story." Liza told her.

"Well," Elizabeth said in reply, "I am guessing that we are going to have plenty of time for you to explain it, why don't we sit down on the couch so that you can tell?" Elizabeth said, walking over to the couch and sitting down.

Liza smiled and joined Elizabeth on the couch, she took a deep breath, holding it for a second, then let it out; "Well, when I was growing up, it was just me and my mom. I didn't know my dad and I had no other family other than my mom. Well, my mom was murdered a little while ago, and so . . . I don't know, I guess that I just wanted to meet the last family member that I have left, so I came to New York and found him today at a crime scene . . ." Liza started, but she noticed that Elizabeth had a paniced look in her face, "Are . . . um, are you okay?" she asked.

"You aren't saying that Peter is your father, are you? Because I know that Peter would have told me that he had a kid, he would never have kept something like that from me. And besides, he said that I was the-" Elizabeth started, but then Liza cut her off.

"No, no. I am not saying that Peter is my father, you have nothing to worry about." Liza assured her, Elizabeth relaxed more after she heard that, "Neal is my father." Liza told her.

"Wow!" Elizabeth replied, "I didn't see that coming." She said with a small smile.

Liza returned the smile; "Yeah, my mother never told Neal- I mean she was going to, but he broke up with her then started on his crime road, so she just never told him."

Elizabeth nodded again; "So you just found him today?"  
>"Yup. At a crime scene." She replied with a smirk.<p>

"And I am guessing that you had nothing to do with the crime scene that they were at?" Elizabeth said, instantly seeing through her smirk; she was Neal's daughter after all.

"No, not at all." Liza lied.

"Wow, your really are Neal's daughter." Elizabeth said with a smile.

Liza chuckled, "I have been told that I tend to act like him from time to time."

Liza and Elizabeth talked for a while when Peter came home. He saw that his wife home and he mumbled; "Oh no." before walking into the house and shutting the door.

**So again, sorry this took so long to get up, but I finally finished it!** **Yaaaaa!**

**Please let me know what you think, and don't forget to leave a review before you leave, thanks!**

**~Chrisie**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hello everyone. So sorry that this has been so late in coming, but you know how life can get; one day you are at the top of the world, and the next you are just holding on by a thread. Well, enough about me, lets get on with the story, shall we? **

"Hey honey!" Elizabeth greeted him.

"Hello, Honey. How was your day?" he asked her as he cautiously put his things down on the coffee table.

"I got to come home early." She replied, using a very fake happy voice.

"I can see that." Peter said, selecting the same tone of voice as his wife.

There was a silence for a moment. Then Liza got up; "If you both will excuse me; I have to use the bathroom." She said not waiting for an answer and running as fast as she could up the stairs.

Once she got to the top of the stairs, she turned and went to the bathroom door. She opened and closed it again, but never went inside. She then turned and got down on her stomach so that she could just barely see Peter and Elizabeth and Peter standing in the living room; she listened.

"Why didn't you tell me?" whisper yelled Elizabeth to Peter.

"Well . . . I thought that I would be home in time to explain it to you." Peter replied in the same voice his wife used.

"Well, you weren't." she replied.

"I know that. Now, anyways." He said back, "But what's the big deal? It's only for a few days." He told her.

"A few days!" she replied harshly, "I thought it was just for the afternoon."

"Well, not exactly." Peter said, rubbing the back of his neck with his hand, "She needs a place to stay until Neal can figure out what he is going to do about her."

"Well, what does Neal want to do about her?" Elizabeth asked Peter.

"He is kind of torn. One part of him just wants to get rid of her and not have any thing to do with her. But any other part of him wants to get to know her and provide for her. Make up for lost time, ya know?" he told Elizabeth.

"Why would he just want to get rid of her?" She asked him in shock, "I know that if I had a long lost child walk into my life, I would want to be the best parent that I could be to that child."

"I know you would," Peter said, grabbing his wife's hands, "But there is a big difference between you and Neal, honey." He said, wrapping her into his arms when he saw her start to get upset.

Liza had heard every word. She wasn't surpised by Neal's thoughts on all this, but that didn't stop the words from piercing through her like a sword. Liza wished more than ever that her mother were there with her; she would know what to do now. Now, not only was Neal torn; but so was she.

**So, what did you guys think? I know that it is extremely short, but I am running low on time here, and I really just want to get you guys an update. **

**I have a quick question: does any one know when White Collar will be coming back on? I have to find out what happens to Elizabeth. Hahaha, I am assuming that they find her, but I am just so on edge as to what will happen next.**

**Please review! **

**~Chrisie**


	7. Chapter 7

**Hey. Sorry, I know that it has been a while, but with things starting to slow down a little bit, I have more free time (except at night when I have basketball). I won't waste your time with any more babbling. Enjoy this chapter! Please review.**

Neal walked into his apartment and slung down on the sofa. _"What am I going to do?"_ he thought to himself.

As he was sitting there thinking, he missed the door opening and closing. He didn't know that anyone else was in the room with his until two arms wrapped around him from the side and the person sat next to him on the couch.

"What's the matter, Neal?" Sarah asked him.

"Hi Sarah. Um, it's kinda a longs story. But the short of it is that apparently I have a long lost daughter and she found me today." he explained to her.

"You have a daughter?" Sarah asked in disbelief.

"Yeah, I guess I do. Her name is Liza and she just lost her mother." Neal told Sarah.

"She did? How? Was it cancer or something?" Sarah asked.

"No. She was tortured and killed by a gang from what I can gather." Neal replied.

"Oh my gosh! That's horrible!" Sarah exclaimed, "Where was Liza?"

"She was hiding somewhere in the room. But she saw the whole thing. It's really gruesome from how she described it. It was pretty bad." Neal told Sarah.

"Wow. That's still horrible." Sarah replied, "I can't believe that she had to watch it. So what are you going to do about this?" she asked Neal.

"I- huh! I don't know." he replied, raking his hands through his hair.

"What do you want to do about this?" Sarah asked him.

"I- huh, I want to see if she can live in that little spare room across the hall there." he said with a small flick of the hand, "I really do want to be part of her life, but I can't raise a child. I mean, she is 14 years old, I think. But still. I don't know what I would do with her during the day and I wouldn't know how to pay June for the rent of the room . . . I mean, I guess that I could work a little more here when I am not at the office. Take her dog for more walks so she doesn't have to . . ." Neal babbled.

"Neal, your babbling." Sarah told him, "But I think that you've chosen what you are doing about her." Sarah told him.

"I-I guess I did." Neal said, slowly nodding, he had a slow smile coming to his face, "But wait. What about you? How would you feel about all this?" he asked Sarah.

"What do mean? How do I feel about, huh, Liza?" Sarah said smiling, "I'm even more attracted to you now that I see you like about a child." Sarah told him honestly.

"Really?" Neal said, leaning into Sarah and giving her a kiss on the lips.

"Yeah." Sarah said, leaning into him and kissing him back. Then she pulled away a bit so that they were close, but no longer touching. "Neal." she said, looking into his eyes.

"Yes?" he replied hoarsely.

"You need to go downstairs and ask June about that room." she told him.

"Now?" he asked. Sarah nodded, "Okay. Will you go with me?" he asked a little nervously.

"Is it possible? The great Neal Caffrey is nervous about something?" she fake mocked him.

"Well . . . I-huh?" he stumbled.

"Alright. I will go down there with you so that you can talk to June." Sarah told Neal.

"Okay thanks." Neal replied, getting off the couch and offering a hand to Sarah so that he could help her off the couch, "I have one more question." Neal said, turning Sarah gently so that she was facing him.

"What is it, Neal?" she asked.

"Um, I was wondering if you would, ya know. Um . . . help me, maybe. Only if you want to. If you don't that's fine, I understand. It is a lot top ask of you and I understand that. And I will still love you even if you don't want to help me with this. I-" Neal spit out.

But Sarah cut him off; "I would love to help you with this." Sarah told him, "But my only problem is that I know that you are her father, but I don't want her to think that I am trying to take the place of her mother in anyway." Sarah told Neal seriously.

Neal smiled; "I think that she will understand." he told her, taking her arm in his and leading her down to June's study, where she spend much of her free time.

Liza sat at the top of the stairs and cried silently to herself. She was torn. She wanted Neal to take her in, but she didn't want to impose on him and his life. For what she could tell, he had managed to get a pretty stable life here, with Peter and stuff, but she wanted more than ever to know her father.

And if he didn't want her to stay, then she would have to go home and be put into the foster care system; and she didn't want that to happen, either. But she didn't want Neal to take her in if he was only doing this because he felt that he had to. She wanted him to do this because he wanted to get to know her, and be part of her life.

She had stopped crying and sat up against the wall now, legs to her chest and chin on her knees. She took a deep sigh so she could clear her head and dry her eyes. She didn't want to re-join the Burkes until she was completely done crying. Crying was a sigh of weakness where she came from, and she could not let anyone see her weak. Not right now.

She listened to Peter and Elizabeth talking downstairs.

"So, how long is she going to stay with us?" Elizabeth asked her husband as the two sat down on the couch.

"Neal asked if she could stay until Friday so that he could have time to sort things out and ask June if she could stay in the extra room across from his apartment." Peter answered.

"Okay, that should work." Elizabeth replied, nodding her head, "But I have one thing; I have to go to work tomorrow and so do you. I don't think that it would be fair to leave her here all day, and I don't think that you can take her to work with you, unless you have an extra room or office that she could sit in and do some work or something." she told Peter.

"You're right. It wouldn't be fair to make her stay here by herself all day, but I am not sure as to where we could put her in the office. I guess we could put her in the conference room." Peter replied, almost thinking out loud.

"That sounds like a good plan." Elizabeth told him.

Liza felt that she had waited long enough, she had been "in the bathroom" a long time, they would start to wonder about her.

She got up and calmly walked down the stairs, "I just want to thank the two of you for opening your home to me on such sort notice. I know that I am a great inconvenience to you." she told the two.

"You are very welcome. We are glad to have you." Elizabeth replied.

**So what do y'all think? Is this chapter long enough? I know that it has been a while since i have updated, but I hope that the slightly longer chapter will make up for it. Please review! :)**

**~ C. M.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Hey, not much to say other than enjoy the chapter! :)**

Neal and Sara walked down the stairs and turned to the direction of June's study. June was there and Neal cautiously walked inside, Sara started to follow then thought it was best for her to stay at the doorway. She leaned up against the door frame and watched Neal approach June's desk.

"Hey June." Neal started.

"Oh, hello Neal!" June replied pleasantly, "What can I do for you?" she asked.

"Um, I was wondering if you had any plans for the room across from mine." Neal asked.

"Well, right now it is sitting empty, as you know." June replied, thinking, "And I was going to renovate it later when I knew what to do with it. You see, it was my old office, but every since Byrne died, I have been using his study instead, it is much nicer than that room. Why? Did you have any ideas for it?" she asked him.

"Well, um . . . It is kind of a long story, but basically, I apparently have a daughter that I didn't know about until earlier today when she found me, and her mother just died and she has no where to stay. I think that I am her last living relative. And I was wondering if she could stay there. I would be willing to do extra work and stuff, and . . ." Neal explained, but then he realized that he didn't need to go on; June was already nodding.

"Neal, that is fine. I would love to have another person in my house. The more the merrier." she said with a smile, "But there is one thing, the room is not really finished, but it does have a bed, dresser, and closet, so I guess that is all that is really needed."

"That should be fine. I don't think she will really care that it is half done. If you listen to her life story, an unfinished room is the least of her problems." Neal replied.

"What is her name?" June asked with a smile.

"Her name is Elizabeth, but everybody calls her Liza, I guess." Neal answered, "She is 14 years old, I believe."

"So what are you going to do with her while you are at work?" June asked him, "Is she going to go to school or something?"

Neal shrugged, "I am still trying to get everything sorted out. But I am working on it."

"That's good. Make sure she is on school though, if she doesn't go to school and doesn't have any plans to go, then you can be arrested. I don't think you need another reason to go back there." June said, the same smile still held on her face.

Neal laughed, "Your right. I don't want to go back. Not now, anyways."

"Good. So where is she right now?" June replied.

"She is staying with Peter and Elizabeth until Friday." Neal answered.

"Okay. I will have one of my maids go and straighten things up in there and make it livable." June said nodding, "So everything should be set by Friday morning."

"Thank you, June." Neal said, meaning it.

"No problem." she said, with a seemingly even bigger smile.

Neal walked out of the room and grabbed Sara by the arm and lead her back upstairs to his studio.

"See. That wasn't so hard, was it?" Sara asked in a fake mock voice.

"You're right. It wasn't. But that still doesn't mean that I enjoyed it." Neal replied as the two climbed the stairs.

"So what are we going to do now?" Sara asked.

They had reached the top of the stairs and Neal turned to her and gave her a kiss; "I don't know. Whatever you would like to do." Neal replied.

"Well in that case . . ." Sara replied, tugging Neal by the front of his shirt by to his room. They entered and shut the door behind them.

That night, Elizabeth had made a stake dinner, knowing that it was Peter's favorite. She also made a salad and a side of green beans cooked with almond shavings. The dinner looked pretty good, if she did say so herself. She enjoyed cooking for more than just herself and Peter sometimes, so she wanted to go all out.

She called Peter and Liza over from the couch as soon as everything was ready. The two were watching the New England Patriots vs. The New York Giants, the Giants were up by seven. "Hold on, hon." Peter replied, standing up but keeping his eyes glued to the screen, "Oh, go! Go! Touchdown! Alright, now I'm good." Peter finished, walking over to the table.

Liza followed silently behind him. As soon as Liza saw what El had prepared for dinner, she groaned inwardly. She was really hungry, but she was a vegetarian, she she would't eat the stake, and she was also allergic to nuts, so the green beans were out of the question. She guessed that she would have to fill up on salad. "This all looks delicious, Mrs. Burke." Liza said, which wasn't a lie, just because she can't eat it, doesn't mean that it looks unappetizing.

"Thank you, Liza." Elizabeth replied with a smile as she took her seat.

She waited for the other two to come back from washing her hands, and then they started to eat. "Wow, great stake, honey." Peter said, finishing off the last bite of his stake.

Liza nodded. She had cut her stake up to make it look like she had eaten it, or at least some of it. And then, after she had eaten all the salad, she pushed the green beans around on her plate as to make it appear as she ate some of those, too. Liza could feel her neck start to get itchy after a while, she tried not to scratch, but she gave in a little after a while. While Peter and Elizabeth finished off the last of their dinner, Liza started to notice a difficulty breathing. She then began to worry a little bit. She hadn't had a reaction in such a long time, and when she had a her last reaction to nuts, her mom had been there, comforting her. Liza began to miss her mother even more. She started to cough a little. "May I please be excused?" She asked the Burkes, her voice was slightly raspy, but it didn't appear that the Burkes noticed.

"Um, sure. If you would like to be." Elizabeth replied with a slightly confused look on her face when she noticed that Liza hadn't really eaten much, "But we would like you to join us downstair for the next game on, so we can all watch it. Is that okay?" Elizabeth asked.

All Liza did was nod as she ran up the stairs to the Burke's guest room to which she had unpacked a few of her things earlier in the day. She tore through all her stuff looking for two things: One; her inhaler. And two; some of the Benadryl that she had packed in case she needed it.

She finally found the inhaler, and she took two puffs right away. She hated her inhaler, it always made her feel weak and like there was something wrong with her every time that she used it. Her mom had always told her that it wasn't something that she was to be ashamed of and that many people used and inhaler, but that never stopped her from feeling like a weirdo every time she used it, with this time being the exception. Now, she was more thankful than ever that she had it.

The two puffs helped a little, so she continued looking for her little container that held all her medicine and such. She quickly took out a Benadryl and swallowed it with no water.

She knew that there wasn't really much she could do from there, all she could do was wait for the magic pill to help get her back to normal. She took two more puffs of the inhaler and then aimlessly walked around the room, picking up the mess she had made a few minutes earlier as she went along.

Once the room was spotless, she lay down on her bed and she just stared up at the ceiling. She began to feel drowsy from the Benadryl, and she let her eyes drift shut.

She hadn't really fallen asleep, she could still hear everything that was going on around her, but she wasn't completely awake either. That is, until she heard Elizabeth calling her from the end of the stairs to come down because the next game was about to start.

Liza pulled herself into consciousness and she did a quick check in the mirror to make sure that she didn't look to bad. Other than her hair being a slight mess, she looked as normal that she could. She fixed her hair as she walked down the stairs to join her hosts.

She was still pretty tired from the Benadryl, and wasn't completely sure that she would make it through the whole game.

She opted to sit on the floor with her back against the end of the couch, with her knees to her chin. She rested her chin on top of her knees and she half heartedly watched the game.

She felt herself drift off again, but she wouldn't let herself fall all the way asleep, she had to listen to the game so that she could say with honesty that she knew what was going on if asked any questions about it later.

Elizabeth looked over and noticed that Liza's eyes were closed; "Liza? You awake over there?" she asked.

It took Liza a second to realize that the question required a response when she heard Elizabeth say, "I guess not."

"That's okay, she has undoubtedly had a long day, and I don't blame her that she is tired." Peter told his wife.

El sighed, "Your right. I guess I just assumed that she would have stayed awake for the game, or at least told us that she was tired so that she could go upstairs and fall asleep." El explained, "I guess that goes with my assumption that made me think that she would have eaten more at dinner tonight."

"Wait a second." Peter said, getting up from the couch and walking over to where he had put his suit jacket when he had gotten home. He picked up the file that he had laid underneath the jacket and read from it.

"What is that?" Elizabeth asked him.

"It is the file that I was able to get on Liza. It says here that four years ago, she was admitted to the hospital because she had had a sever allergic reaction to something." Peter read.

"What was the something?" El asked curiously.

"Nuts." Peter said, looking up from the file and down at Liza, "There was nuts in the dinner that you made tonight."

Peter walked over and put his hand on Liza's should and shook her awake, "Hum . . . What?" Liza said, once she realized what was going on.

"Are you okay?" Peter asked, looking at her with concern, he was now kneeling at her side.

Elizabeth came over to her other side; "Yeah, honey. You should have told me that you were allergic to nuts. I could have saved the green beans for a different night."

"I-uh . . . I'm okay." Liza said, as took a deep breath, her breathing had quite gotten back to normal and she coughed.

"No your not." Elizabeth said, just then noticing that he neck was red, "Come on," she said, grabbing Liza's arm.

"Where are we going?" Liza asked.

"I am taking you to the emergency room." Elizabeth said, grabbing her jacket and throwing it over Liza shoulders as she herded her out the door.

"You really don't need to . . ." Liza started.

"Don't bother to try and fight this, my mind is made up." El told her.

Peter grabbed the car keys and his cell phone. He promptly called Neal. "Neal."

he said as soon as Neal answered, "We have a problem."

"What's going on, Peter?" Neal asked, "You sound panicked."

"Neal, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean for this to happen. We are on our way to the Emergency room with Liza." Peter started, "We had nuts in our dinner and Liza is apparently allergic to them."

"What? Is she okay?" Neal asked, panic rising in his voice as well.

"She is stable. We ate about two hours ago and she didn't tell us that she was having issues. We noticed it when we were all watching the game and she fell asleep. Then I remembered something in her file, it was an incident similar to this one. She didn't tell one of her friend's families that she was allergic to nuts and she had a reaction then too. They drove her to the hospital and then her mother met them there." Peter explained.

"Okay. I will meet you guys there as soon as I can." Neal replied, and then he hung up.

Peter ran over to the car and started driving, "El." he said, "Make sure you don't let her fall asleep. She falls asleep, her body shuts down slightly. It is better if she is awake." he said to his wife, who was sitting in the back seat with Liza.

"Okay." she replied, but Liza was already partly asleep.

Elizabeth shook her awake, but she soon drifted again. This process happen a few times before they were able to make it to the ER. By the time that they got there, Liza was coughing again.

They took her back into one of the rooms to examine her while Peter and Elizabeth sat in the waiting room.

Neal running into the room with Sara close behind him. "Peter. What's going on?" Neal asked, "How is she?"

"I don't know Neal. I'm so sorry." Peter replied.

They had nothing to do but wait; and that was done in silence.

**What does everyone think? I know that this was a really long chapter, but I hope you all enjoyed it! The only reason I wrote about this is because it was fresh in my mind. I just had a similar experience with peanut butter and it was horrible. But I lived (obviously). The only reason I say that is because this wasn't really planned, but it gives a slight inside as to who Liza is and some of her background is laid out. Oh, and for those of you who don't know, Benadryl makes you wicked drowsy and tired, but it really does help so much! hahaha**

**Anyways, please review! :)**

**~C. M.**


	9. Chapter 9

**Hello everybody! So sorry that it has been so long. I just want to say thank you to all the people that are reading this, and I really hope that you like it. **

About an hour later, a nurse came out into the waiting room; "Is the guardian of a Liza-"

Neal cut her off before she could finish her question, "Here!" He said, standing up looking at the nurse anxiously, "Is she alright?"

The nurse nodded; "Yes, she is going to be fine. By the looks of it, she knew what was happening and did her best to stop it, but with her kind of allergy, you really should have had an EpiPen with you. If something like this were to happen again, she might not be so lucky next time." the nurse explained with concern.

Neal thought about that quickly and almost told the nurse that it wasn't really his fault, but more of an accident type thing. He then decided that the lady most likely had better things to do then listen to his long story, so he held back from speaking and just nodded.

"Okay, great!" the nurse answered, handing him a piece of paper, "This is the prescription you will need." she told him and started to walk away.

"Wait." Neal called after her, "Can I please see her?"

"I'm sorry. No. You can't." the nurse told him.

"Well, why not?" Neal asked, his voice starting to show anger.

"I'm sorry, sir. But it says in her file that only her mother and a . . . Mr. Vince Scott can be let into see her in the case of an incident that would lead her to the hospital." the nurse explained to him.

"What? What are you talking about? Who is this Vince Scott person?" Neal asked, his voice continuing to rise.

"According to this, Sir, he is her step father. He has been contacted, and he will be here in the five days. So you will have to wait until she is released to see her." The nurse told Neal harshly.

"Well then, when will that be?" he muttered between his clenched teeth.

"She will be released tomorrow, but we need to have an address of where she's going to be. Per Mr. Scott's request, we need to have an address so that he can find her once he gets into the city." the nurse told Neal. She then briskly turned away and walked in the opposite direction.

"Who is this Vince Scott person?" Sara asked, coming up behind Neal.

"Apparently, he is her step father." Neal said, clearly confused. Which was an unusual thing for him.

"I didn't think that she had a step father." Neal said, looking at Peter.

"In her mother's file, it never said anything about ever being married." Peter answered Neal, standing up and walking over to Neal, "I'll call Jones and have him look up the name and see what he can dig up." Peter said, taking out his phone.

"Don't bother." Neal replied, "I'll bet that Liza knows who he is." he told Peter and he turned and walked to the door way leading to the rest of the hospital.

"Neal, you are not allowed to go and see her." Peter told him.

"Oh yeah? Watch me." he said, walking completely out of the room.

"Aren't you going to go and get him?" Sara asked.

Peter shook his head; "No, I'm going to let this play out. See what's going to happen. Beside," Peter said with a shrug, "At least he is talking responsibility for something."

Mean while, Neal was slipping into one of the hallways, trying not to be noticed by anyone, especially that nurse. He saw a doctors jacket neatly folded up in a linens closet, so he grabbed it and put it on over his clothes. In his rush to get to the hospital, he hadn't put on his suit jacket, just his pants and usual shirt and tie (the only reason for the tie was because it was in his shirt already and Sara drove).

He walked over to one of the nurses stations and grabbed a patient clipboard off the cart and looked it over. Finding Liza's name and her room number, he walked down the hall to the room, carefully avoiding suspicion.

When he got to her room, he opened the door and found her sleeping on the bed. But hearing the open and close again, she opened her eyes. "Hey." she said to Neal, smiling.

"Hey. How ya doin'?" Neal asked, pulling up a chair.

"Fine. I'm sorry to have caused all this trouble . . . I didn't mean to . . ." Liza starting while sitting up.

"No. Don't apologize. This is not your fault." Neal told her.

"It's not Peter or Elizabeth's fault either." Liza told him.

Neal nodded, "I know. I'm not mad at anyone but that nurse."

"Oh, yeah. Her." Liza replied.

"So I have a question for you." Neal started, "Who is Vince Scott?" Neal asked her gently.

Liza's eyes got wide instantly; "He's not here is he? Oh no. Did they call him? Tell me they didn't call him!" Liza said, getting extremely panicked.

"Calm down. They did call him he told them that he would be in the city in a couple of days. He also asked for the address of where you will be staying for the next couple of days so that when he gets here he can find you." Neal explained.

"Yeah, I'll bet he did." Liza replied, shaking her head, "No matter what happens, you can give anyone your names or where you live, or Peter, or anybody. Okay. Just don't."

"Why not?" Neal asked her.

"Just because. You need to trust me on this." Liza said, looking to her hands which were carefully folded in her lap.

"What happened? Who is he." Neal asked.

"Who did they say he was?" Liza asked back.

"They said that he was your step father." Neal answered.

"I can't believe that she didn't change that after all this time. My mom was going to marry him, I think. But then they called it off before the wedding, and that was it."

"Well, that can't be it. There must be more to the story than that." Neal pushed, but they were interrupted.

"Excuse me, who are you?" it was the nurse from earlier.

"Oh, um . . ." Neal said, turning around.

"Hey! I thought I told you that you weren't allowed in here!" she yelled, "I'm calling security!"

"Hey! No need to do that. I'm leaving. I'm leaving." Neal answered, getting up and walking out of the room.

"Remember what I told you!" Liza called after her, "Please, Neal!"

Neal turned around for a brief second, "I will." he said with a nod, and then he was push out of sight.

**What do you think? I know that you have all been waiting for a while for this next chapter, so here it is. Hahaha. So please leave a review before you go. Thank you!**


	10. Chapter 10

**Hey! Sorry this has taken so long to get up, but I just got back from a three week missions trip. So has you can imagine, I didn't have any time for writing or even a computer that I could use. **

**Anyways, hope you enjoy!**

Neal was pushed into the waiting area and told to stay there, or else.

"What happened?" Sara asked, getting up and walking over to Neal.

"What does it look like? They found me." Neal replied, slipping off the doctors coat that he had borrowed.

"No, no. Not that." Sara said, shaking her head, "What did Liza say about Vince Scott?"

"Oh. Him. Well, I guess that . . . Well, I don't think that we should talk about this here." Neal said, taking Sara by the arm and glancing at Peter and Elizabeth as a sign that they should follow him, "Let's go out for some coffee."

"What about Liza?" Elizabeth asked.

"She'll appreciate the fact that we aren't talking about this in the hospital. Trust me." Neal replied, leading the group out the front doors of the hospital.

"Why?" Sara asked curiously.

"Just . . . Because." Neal answered her.

The group walked a ways down the street to the nearest coffee shop, where they all ordered a drink. They sat down at a table in the back corner, then all attention turned to Neal for his story.** "**Okay, so what happened, now?" Peter asked.

"Well, firstly, when I asked her, she got all panicked and wide eyed. And then she started to tell me that her mother was going to marry Scott, but for some reason they called the wedding off. I didn't get asked her why, though. Then she quickly started to tell me that nobody was to tell anyone at the hospital anything about who we are. Not our names, where we live, anything." Neal told them.

"Wait, why can't we tell people who we are?" asked Sara.

Neal shook his head; "I don't know," he told her, "All she said was that I needed to trust her and just not tell anyone anything."

"Did she say anything after that?" Elizabeth asked.

Neal shook his head again; "No. The nurse found me after that." he explained to the group.

Meanwhile, at the hospital, the nurse had gone back to check on Liza; "How are you doing, sweetheart?" she asked all sweetly.

"Oh, good. Thank you." Liza said with a forced smile.

"That's good. I am so sorry that that man was able to get in and see you. I told him that he wasn't supposed to." the nurse told Liza, "Did he hurt you, or anything?"

Liza shook her head quickly; "Nope. I'm good."

"Okay. Well, from the sounds of it, I'm guessing that you know him," she laughed, "I hop you do. I gave your prescription to him."

"Yes," replied Liza, "I know him. I am . . . Staying with him while I am in town."

"Okay, good." said the nurse, "Oh, and don't worry, we called your step dad and he is on his way to New York. We tried to contact your mother, but the number we have for her is out of service, but your step dad assured us that he would tell her for us." she informed Liza.

"Yeah, I'll bet he did." Liza said under her breath.

"What was that, sweetheart?" the nurse asked, taking one more step towards Liza.

"Oh nothing." Liza replied, raising her voice back to normal volume, "I was just wondering when he was going to be here. But I don't expect you to know the answer to that." Liza said, adding extra sweetness into her voice.

"Oh, actually I do!" the nurse replied with a bigger smile than she had been previously wearing.

"Oh, really? That's awesome! When is he planning on getting in?" Liza asked the nurse, again.

She glanced down at her clip board and back at Liza; "The earliest he could get in is about five days. He apologizes that it is so far away, but that was the earliest flight that he could get."

"That's okay. It will give me time to feel better. I haven't seen him in a while because he has been away for work, so I want to look my best for him." Liza lied to the nurse.

"Okay, great!" the nurse replied, "Call me if you need anything, okay?"

Liza nodded and the nurse left the room.

Liza flopped down onto her pillow; "Oh great. This is going to be interesting." she said to herself with a sigh.

**Hey guys! So how was it (other than short, sorry about that. I am still trying to get back into the swing of things)? Please review!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Hey guys. I'm sorry I haven't written in a while. I have no excuses, I have just haven't felt like writing in a while. **

The next day, Liza was released. On her way out, the nurse came up to her; "Hey! I just need an address for where you are going to be staying for the next couple of days, so that I can tell your step-father how to find you."

"Oh, um . . . Can you just tell him that I don't know the address, but I am staying two buildings down, in apartment number 17?" Liza asked the nurse, "I am not sure of the address." she told the nurse with a fake smile.

"Oh, sure. I will mark that down in your record." the cheery nurse replied.

"Great! Thanks so much! Have a nice day!" Liza told the nurse as she hurried down the hallway towards the door. She didn't even hear if the nurse responded or not.

Neal and Peter were waiting in a car parked just outside the door. "Gee, I didn't think that hospitals were that relaxed about letting a minor be released unsupervised." Peter commented as Liza got into the back seat and closed the door.

"I honestly didn't think that I was going to get out of there, either. I thought that they were going to wait for Vince." Liza said as she buckled her seat belt.

"So . . . Are you planning on telling us why we had to be so secretive about this whole mess?" Peter asked as he emerged into traffic.

"Um. Do you think I could wait on that?" Liza asked, sinking down in her seat, "I am not feeling up to explaining all that today. We still have a couple of days until his flight gets in."

"When does his flight get in?" Neal asked.

"The nurse told me that he was due to arrive in New York in four days from now." Liza told them.

"Okay, I will have Jones track down his flight information. Until then, I want you to stay at my house with me." Peter told her.

"I thought I was staying with you anyways . . ." Liza wondered.

"Yeah," Peter replied, unsure what to say next.

Peter pulled up to the front of his house, and Neal helped Liza into the house. She immediately walked up the stairs and went into her room. When Elizabeth went to check on her a little while later, she was sound asleep.

Meanwhile, Peter and Neal were talking downstairs; "So, why do you think Liza is so secretive about Scott." Neal asked Peter.

"I don't know." Peter replied, "I had Jones look into him, though, and he has quite a rap sheet. His record shows that he has had everything from assault charges and robbery charges against him, but they were all mysteriously dropped. Now, though, he is currently running with a mob that is known to run out of Liza's home town."

Neal thought for a moment; "I wonder what this all has to do with Liza." Neal stated.

"I don't know." Peter said honestly, "But I have a feeling that he is not coming alone on that flight to New York."

"You think that he is going to have some of his 'friends' from the mob group come with him to get to Liza?" Neal asked, with the slight hint of worry in his eyes.

"I think so. Whatever Liza has been dragged into, it is about to come and hit her full force. And we need to make sure that doesn't happen." Peter stated, taking a sip of the beer bottle sitting on the coffee table.

"It's weird. I haven't known Liza that long, but I already feel so . . . Connected to her." Neal confessed, "And even now, I feel like if she were ripped out of my life, I would feel even worse than when I lost Kate."

Peter was slightly taken aback by this sudden confession from Neal. He sighed; "Well than. I suppose we need to make sure that doesn't happen, then. Don't we?" Peter answered, putting a hand on Neal's shoulder to get his attention, "Neal. If we are going to help Liza, then we are going to need to know the history between her and Scott. Tomorrow, you have to get the story out of her. You can't let her brush you off anymore."

Neal nodded, "I know. But whenever I bring it up she gets this scared look in her eyes and she gets all panicky. I hate seeing her like that, Peter."

"And you want to know why that is?" Peter asked, "Because you have a huge heart, and you are a good father. You are still learning, and will be for a long time, but you are exactly what she needs in her life right now." Peter told Neal.

Neal just shook his head as all the memories from his childhood came back to him. It made him more determined than ever to help Liza get out of whatever mess she was brought into by Scott. He was going to protect his daughter.

**So sorry this update took so long, and even sorrier that it is so short, but as soon as I did want to start writing again, soccer started. Two whole weeks of two 3 hour practices a day . . . Well I guess that is why they call it "Hell Weeks" hahaha. Please make my day and review! **

***Oh, and for those of you who want to, I will be posting times and stuff of when my chapters will be coming and whatnot on my twitter account. So you can follow me mdraus. **

**Thank you so much!**


	12. Chapter 12

**Hi y'all! Soccer season is over, very exciting! Hope you guys enjoy the next chapter!**

Neal and Liza were walking down the street after spending the day at the F.B.I. Office. Peter had thought it would be best if Liza spent the day with him and Neal instead of sitting alone all day.

Neal took a deep breath; "So, you have something to tell me." Neal stated; not a question.

"I'd rather not talk about this right now, maybe we could talk about this-"

"No." Neal said, shaking his head firmly, "If Peter and I are going to help you, you need to share why Scott is coming after you."

Liza sighed and turned towards Neal and looked him in the eyes; "You really sure you want to know? Because as soon as you know, there is no going back, they will discover you know, and they won't like it."

"Who?" Neal asked.

"Lets talk in the park." Liza said, turning and leading the way.

The two sat down on a bench far enough off the path that they wouldn't be overheard by anyone.

Liza took a deep breath and started; "Well, I think I told you that he was written down as my step-father because he and my mom were going to get married. But after a while, my mom started going away for girls weekends with her friends or for work. She had never done that before because she had me and she didn't want to leave me for so long. The one time she did go away for work before . . . _Him, _I went with her. But she had been dating him for about a year and a half, so she finally trusted him enough to watch me alone for a weekend. But when she left, he changed. He got all distant, mean, and aggressive. I was only five at the time, and I didn't understand that he had gotten really drunk, and that was why he was acting so mean.

"I told him that I didn't like it, and asked him to stop yelling at me. He didn't like that and he ended up pushing me against the wall, and I fell to the ground and he kicked me until I passed out." Liza's voice was wobbly now, and she was close to tears, "When I came to, I was in my room. I tried to open the door, but it wouldn't open. He had locked me in. I heard two voices downstairs, one was his voice, and the other was a woman's voice. I thought it was my mom's voice and I wanted to go and see her, so snuck out of my room using the laundry shoot, it was big enough that I could just slide down. All I remember after that is realizing that the lady wasn't my mom and gong back to my room. Eventually, he came and unlocked my door and told me that if I told anyone, especially my mom, that he would kill me." Liza told Neal, the tears finally slipping down her cheeks.

"Was that the only time that happened?" Neal asked her, unsure how to deal with the information coming towards him.

Liza shook her head immediately; "No. Not by a long shoot. It happened quite a few times. About three more times, then I figured out that the 'specially glass bottle' made him act like that, so I figured that if I took all his bottles and hid them, he would be nice to me. Although, he was already drunk when he discovered all the missing bottles. He came after me. He was so mad that I had taken his booze. He picked me up at threw me against the wall like a rag doll. I remember looking up, just in time to see him pick an empty bottle and throw it at me. The bottle hit me in the shoulder. I remember crying hysterically and trying to get up and get away from him, but he came at me and kicked me so hard in the ribs, that it broke one. That was enough for me to pass out, and when I came to, I remember being locked in my room. I was in too much pain to try and escape down the laundry shoot, so I stayed put until he came up and told me not to say a word to my mom about what had happened. He could see that the bruises and marks were more than he could cover up with a shirt, so he told my mom that he had told me not to jump on my bed, but I did anyway and I fell off and hurt myself. He said it was my own fault I was hurt to bad. My mom was so mad at me for not listening. I remember lying in bed, thinking how unfair it was." Liza said, burying her face in her hands, "I was six at the time."

Neal was angry, how could someone seriously do these things to a child. "When did your mom finally break up with him?" he asked in a controlled voice.

Liza thought for a second, "I was eight, he had figured out that I had snuck out of my room somehow and was getting food. I thought that he was already wasted on the couch and wouldn't notice me. Apparently, he hand't been as hammered as I thought he was. He started yelling and cursing at me. I was in the corner of the kitchen sprawled on the floor. He was throwing things at me, so many things. He had just hit me in the side of the head with a fry pan when my mom walked in, her conference had been cancelled. All I remember before I slipped unconscious was her yelling at him to get out and then taking steps towards me; crying.

"I woke up in the hospital. I hand't seen him again for a long time. I knew that he had been arrested and put in jail for a robbery he had tried to pull and I knew that he was constantly sending my mom letters. She never let me read them. After a while she stopped opening them and just threw them away. I grabbed them out of the trash and read them for myself. They were threats that if we brought what had happened to the police he would find a way to come and make us pay. My mom never did tell, mostly because I would've had to have testified and she didn't want me to do that. Did want me to have to remember those thoughts again, or anymore than I had to. Also, I heard her say to one of her friends that she was worried that I would be taken away from her because she was so ignorant and didn't know what was going on." Liza started to whipe her tears away. "I thought that that would be the last of it, but when my mom was killed . . . He came back. He was trying to get me to go with him, but I heard that he had some gambling debts that he need to pay off, but because he was broke, he could't do that. So when he read that my mom had passed, he thought that he would . . ." Liza started to cry again. She crossed her arms over her chest and try to gain control over herself.

"He thought he would what?" Neal asked, barely able to keep himself together.

"He thought that he would . . . I can't." she said, shaking, "I just can't."

"Liza, you have to." Neal said, putting his hand on her shoulder, "I need to know the whole story."

"He was going to take me and tell the people he owed money to that they could have a motel room and me for an hour." she spit out in a rush, crying even harder, fear and pain evident in her eyes. "I heard that through the vent in the floor. After that, I packed my stuff and snuck out the window and was on the first flight to New Jersey. In the air port, I called in that there had been a break in at my house, and later I heard that he had been arrested. I even heard that he had a warrant for his arrest out, something about another robbery. So when I got to New Jersey, I took a cab over to New York. I thought that I was safe, and that's when I started to find you. He wasn't going to be able to find me had that nurse not called him. I made sure of it." she said.

"How did you make sure?" Neal asked.

"Um . . ." Liza replied, looking down, "I don't think that I should tell you that part."

"And why is that?" Neal asked, curious.

"Um, part of it was a little illegal." she told him.

Neal chuckled, "Lets hear it."

"Okay, well I bought a ticket under my name for California. And then I went to a different desk and bought a ticket for New Jersey under a fake name, using a passport that I had paid some guy to make. The Jersey flight was scheduled to leave two hours after the California one. So, I went and checked into the California one, even handed the lady my ticket, and while she was busy helping a guy right before the plane took off, I was able to sneak out and go and check into the Jersey flight." she said with a small smile looking up.

Neal smiled too, "I guess coning runs in the family. But don't you make a habit of it, you got me?" he said, looking her in the eyes. Liza smile and nodded her head, "Good. Prison wouldn't be a good place for you."

Then he leaned over and hugged her. "Thank you for telling me. I know t was hard for you." Neal said, leaning back.

Liza nodded and then looked sad again; "What's going to happen to me, now?" she asked.

"Now," Neal said, "Now we can begin to fix the problem." he said with a smile.

**So how was that? I know that it was a pretty horrible story, but it simply had to be done. **

**Please review and tell me what you think! :)**

**P.S. Did anyone notice that this was a long chapter? Some of you had been asking for that, so I figured it was about time I delivered.**

**~~C.M.~~ **


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